Test Scooping for Mars Rover Curiosity

This video, presented at four times actual speed, shows a test using an engineering model of the soil scoop for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The scoop dips to about 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters) deep. This test took place at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., in 2011.

Curiosity's scoop will collect soil samples to be sieved, processed and delivered to analytical instruments inside the rover. (No audio)